In 2009, following an initiative that was started by Kommer Kleijn in 2004 and was supported by IMAGO, EDCF, and SMPTE, the Additional Frame Rate standard was published by SMPTE adding the speeds of 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps to the international standard for Digital Cinema projection. This standard was named SMPTE ST428-11:2009 Additional Frame Rates for D-Cinema. In 2011 this standard was also published by ISO.

Today, SMPTE published an amendment to this standard under the name of SMPTE ST428-11:2013, adding three new speeds of 96, 100 and 120 fps actually allowing for 3D projection at 48, 50 and 60 fps per eye. This new amendment to the standard will allow for 3D movies at all the previously available 2D speeds. Indeed, the standards now allow for 3D movies at 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 fps per eye 3D, the last three being newly added by this amendment. They are also called “HFR” for “High Frame Rates”. The new standard establishes the 3D HFR speeds as 48, 50 and 60 fps/eye.

It may be worth noting that the same HFR speeds for 2D were already established in 2009.

The amended standard was created by the SMPTE TC-21DC ST428-11 Revision for HFR Ad Hoc Group, chaired by Dave Schnuelle, Dolby Labs, while Kommer Kleijn SBC served as a Document Editor for the amendment.

The work was based on the interim report of the SMPTE TC-21DC Study Group for High Frame Rates that was initiated by Kommer Kleijn in 2011 and is Co-Chaired by Michael Karagosian, MKPE Consulting, Kommer Kleijn SBC and David Stump ASC.

The newly amended standard can be found in the SMPTE on-line store at the adress

http://standards.smpte.org/content/978-1-61482-763-4/st-428-11-2013/SEC1.body.pdf+html

IMAGO would like to thank all the persons that contributed to the realization of this new standard that hopefully will allow cinema presentation quality to enhance and allow our industry to progress with higher image quality and new possibilities in storytelling.

Kommer Kleijn
IMAGO Technical Committee